• Source: Babelichthys

Babelichthys is an extinct genus of crestfish from Western Iran's Pabdeh Formation during the middle to late Eocene. One species is known: Babelichthys olneyi.
The single known specimen consists of a head and the front-most region of the dorsal fin, preserving the extremely elongated and enlarged first dorsal-fin ray.
It and the extant unicorn crestfish (Eumecichthys fiski) are each other's closest known relatives.




Etymology


The genus name Babelichthys means “Babel fish” in Greek, named after the teleost-like, ear-dwelling, polyglot extraterrestrial species from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, as a reference to the very peculiar, almost alien-like, appearance of the genus. The species name "olneyi" is named after John E. Olney for his work on the anatomy and ontogeny of Lampriformes.




References

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Babelichthys
• Crestfish
• List of organisms named after works of fiction
• Eumecichthys
• 2017 in paleoichthyology